Ear Hustle – A podcast about prison life that builds bridges between us and them

You can’t hate someone whose story you know. I recently discovered the Ear Hustle podcast. “Ear Hustle brings you the stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it. The podcast is a partnership between Nigel Poor, a Bay Area visual artist and Earlonne Woods, formerly incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, and was co-founded with […]

10 diverse ways the smartphone can be used for learning and applying social justice

Working in Tanzania, last November, I noticed how much the local people relied on their smartphones, and not just to scroll their social media feeds. Stoked by opportunity, and constrained by infrastructure, they are finding new ways to be resourceful with what they have. In many places in Eastern Africa, including Tanzania, the smartphone becomes […]

International Facilitation Week’ Twitter Chats – October 22 and 23

As part of International Facilitation Week 2014,  on October 22 and October 23, renowned UK facilitator @MartinGilbraith and I are hosting a couple of Twitter chats. Martin and I did this (chats) last year, too.  They were a fast-paced virtual exchange, and dare I say – good fun, for all. The chats are the initiative of the International Association […]

Listener as Storyteller

It’s Conflict Resolution Week, here in BC.  The theme is #LetsTalkItOut.  Before we talk, though, better to listen.  Right? And with being a really good listener, one understands the others’ story. We become a storyteller, too. Why listen? A large chunk of what we communicate between us is unsaid. This fact tends to get magnified […]

Effective communications: High-context in a low-context virtual world

Keeping communications high-context in the virtual world can be a frustrating exercise.  Virtual interactions tend to favour low-context, direct and impersonal, forms of communication.  If you’re from a high-context culture, beware. Here’s a two-minute screencast I created to look at the high/low context conundrum, and what you can do about it: (Update: This screencast is […]